Tuesday (06/02/18) - Rest Day No walking, no stretching (really dropped the ball on this recently!) just working and sleeping. Wednesday (07/02/18) I finished up my morning (after getting home from the nightshift) with a brisk 30 minute walk, then went out again for a second walk (same duration) following a few hours sleep. Next up I headed out for my 1st ever HR Motivated Run - No planned distance, time or pace, just the aim of keeping my average HR under 155 bpm, and my max HR under 165 bpm. Warm up: See above walk. Run: Distance: 6.77 miles / 10.9 km Duration: 1h 04m 14s This proved to be a much more relaxed way of pacing for me, which asked more of my calves than it did my heart and/or lungs... Cool down: 10 minutes of Light Stretching (calves and hamstrings only) Starting HR: 88 bpm Max HR: 166 bpm (+1 from goal) Average HR: 157 bpm (+2 from goal) Recovery HR: 33 bpm (from 157 to 124 bpm) Calories: 718 used Travess
Thursday (08/02/18) AM: Although I have both the Kids Karate class and the Adults Karate class tonight, I'll not really be getting in a workout of my own (teaching in the Kids, then working on lower intensity drills with a couple of the white belts for the adults) so decided to bust out my limited weights supply (2 x 11kg dumbells) for some upper body work. Warm up: 15-20 minutes of Stretching 3 x 45 seconds of Shadow Boxing Sets: 3 x 10 'Y' Flyes* 5 x 10 Bent Over Row 5 x 10 Bicep Curls 5 x 10 Press AMRAP: Curls x 18 reps Press x 37 reps (Note: *an old shoulder niggle returned during the 'Y' Flyes, so decided to drop the last 2 sets) Cool down: Sanchin Kata Tensho Kata PM: Kids Krotty @ 60 minutes - Following the warm-up, and a selection of Impact / Striking drills, we focused our attentions on Gekisai Di Ichi, which was a revision for some, and a continuation of the introduction to others. (A family emergency pulled me away between the 2 classes, causing me to miss the 1st 30 minutes of the adults class) Adults Karate @ 60 minutes - The entire session was spent on Sparring Drills tonight, from Playing for Grips, to Stand-Up Grappling. From Takedowns, to Ground Submissions and Breakfree Drills. (All non-compliant, strictly as grappling, then again with strikes added in to the mix) Then Finally, Stand-Up Striking and Multiples (I did manage to squeeze in a couple of rotations of the Multiples Sparring, with a couple of the other black belts, which was FUN...) Duration: 2h 40m 33s (HR monitor not worn...) Travess
Strap yourselves in, this is gonna drag on a bit... (sorry!) Friday (09/02/18) - Rest Day - Both my wife, and my youngest have a sickness bug at the mo, so today was mostly about Daddy/Hubby day care duties and disinfectant... Saturday (10/02/18) - Rest Day No. 2 - Today was the day of the adult class Kyu Grading, so I spent the most of the day (9am til 3pm) sitting on a panel, watching others get their Karate on... (we did finish earlier than expected though, giving my instructor and I time to hash out a few of the requirements for my 2nd Dan, which was... daunting!) Sunday (11/02/18) I dragged myself back into the Garage today, for the 1st time in too long (again!!!) for some Escalating Rounds/Intensity Bag-Work. Warm up: 10 minutes of Stretching 1 x 1 minutes on the Freestanding Speed-ball 2 x 1 minutes of Shadow Boxing Bag-Work: 3 x 1 minutes of Bag-Work (med-high intensity/effort) 4 x 3 minutes 30-30-30 rounds (Note: 30 seconds rests between each round and each exercise change, but 2 minutes rest before my run, as I wanted to get my HR down in to at least the mid 130s, before heading out) Extra credit: 5 km Road Run @ 27m 09s (would have been nice of Mother Nature, had she not chosen to sent sleet and hail stones my way though...) Cool down: Sanchin Kata 2 minutes of Stretching (calves and hamstrings only) Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 12m 53s Starting HR: 76 bpm Max HR: 177 bpm Average HR: 151 bpm Recovery HR: 41 bpm (from 172 to 131 bpm) Calories: 722 used As a new addition to my log (inspired by aaradia's training log) I'm going to start keeping a tally of the amount of time that I spend on my training each week. (Mon to Sun) Total training hours: 7 hours 17 minutes 57 seconds Travess
Monday (12/02/18) It is half term this week, which I have taken a few days off work for, affording us a nice family day out. AM: Part of our morning was spent at a local national trust site (Folly farm towers) where, interspersed with a fair amount of sightseeing and photo taking, we managed just under 3km of Walking, in around 1hr 15mins - I even managed to convince my eldest to partake in a semi (there weren't that many people about) public display of Gekisai Di Ichi (even got a couple of phots.) PM: Arrived at the Dojo 30 minutes early, so took the opportunity to get in 15 minutes of Stretching, as well as this week's Strength Training Progress figures, for the two 1st Kyu students that I have been working with - Again, I wont share their figures, but mine stood at 44 Push Ups, 50 Sit Ups, 50 Lunges and a 2 minute Plank, for each 2 minute work period (I had time and energy for more, but these numbers are the goal number of reps required by each candidate, in the time provided) Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei got things started with a pretty (very!) energetic 35 minutes of Pad Work, starting with just a 2 strike combination, then adding another technique, until we were up to a 7 technique combination - 40 x each Combination (20 each side) Combination #1 - Kizami Tsuki, Gyaku Tsuki (Jab, Cross) Combination #2 - Kizami Tsuki, Gyaku Tsuki, Fura Tsuki (Jab, Cross, Hook) Combination #3 - Kizami Tsuki, Gyaku Tsuki, Fura Tsuki (Jab, Cross, Hook, Rising Punch) Combination #4 - Kizami Tsuki, Gyaku Tsuki, Fura Tsuki, Tetsu Uchi (Jab, Cross, Hook, Rising Punch, Hammerfist) Combination #5 - Kizami Tsuki, Gyaku Tsuki, Fura Tsuki, Tetsu Uchi, Uraken (Jab, Cross, Hook, Rising Punch, Hammerfist, Backfist) Combination #6 - Kizami Tsuki, Gyaku Tsuki, Fura Tsuki, Tetsu Uchi, Uraken, Gyaku Tsuki (Jab, Cross, Hook, Rising Punch, Hammerfist, Backfist, Cross) The last hour (we ran over a little) was spent looking at Iain Abernethy's History of Kata - 4 groups of 4, each group tasked with coming up with their own 4 move 'Kata', then, each member of a group paired up with an individual from another, where they learn each others 'Kata' Once back in our origianl group of 4, we looked at the 'Kata' we had just ben individually shown, identified any discrepancies (there were 2, but both were superficial - Some taught a 18o degree turn, whilst others taught a 135 degree turn, and 1 had their 'Kata' ending in Han-Zenkutsu Dachi, whilst the other 3 finished in a full Zenkutsu Dachi) Finally, in our groups, we attempted to decipher the originally intended Bunkai, based solely on the techniques shown, then presented our findings to the 'Creators' - These are my favourite 'technical/traditional lesson types... Travess
Tuesday (13/02/18) I'd normally get lynched for exercising on my Wedding Anniversary (and quite rightly so too!) but my wife and I have been trying to get our eldest on to a particular cake decorating course for a while now, and this afternoon was the only slot that they had available - So whilst they headed of out, I grabbed my sweats and got to work... Warm up: 12 minutes of Stretching 3 x 1 minutes of Shadow Boxing Deck of Cards: Spades: Mason Twist (unweighted) Hearts: Push Ups (inclined) Clubs: Bicep Curls (2 x 11kg Dumbells) Diamonds: Standing Row (12kg Kettlebell) (Note: Damn 'random' Deck of cards app. left me with close to 50 consecutive Standing Rows still to do, following the completion of all other exercises - I was gonna use the larger KB [16kg] that I'd borrowed from my brother, but I'm glad I didn't, as I struggled to get the job done with the 12kg) Cool down: Sanchin Kata Tensho Kata Duration: 48m 38s Starting HR: 71 bpm Max HR: 137 bpm Average HR: 104 bpm Recovery HR: 18 bpm (from 100 to 82 bpm) Calories: 216 used Travess
Wednesday (14/02/18) Mostly just a carbon copy of yesterday's log, only instead of doing an upper body 'Deck of Cards' workout, today I am doing a leg one instead... Warm up: 10 minutes of Stretching* 2 x 1 minutes of Shadow Boxing (Note: *no notable progress on the depth of my box splits, for the past 2 weeks) Deck of Cards: Spades: Squats Hearts: Calf Lifts Clubs: Hamstring Lifts (formerly curls) Diamonds: Lunges (Note: All exercises were bodyweight only today!) Extra Credit: Sit Ups x 57* reps (AMRAP) (Note: *not a particularly good attempt, as the small of my back kept spasming) Cool down: Sanchin Kata Tensho Kata Heian Sandan (non-Goju Kata) Duration: 49m 42s Starting HR: 84 bpm Max HR: 155 bpm Average HR: 108 bpm Recovery HR: 40 bpm (126 to 86 bpm) Calories: 237 used Travess
how are you measuring you box split depth? I am back on the stretch routine from next week, too run down this week to push it.
I measure from the gusset to the floor, usually at the end of my stretching routine, and always on the laminate flooring in my bedroom (tend to measure about an inch or 2 less, when I'm carpeted floors) Despite also stretching sat down, pushing my legs out, I have never really tracked my progress that way. Travess
Thursday (15/02/18) Excuse the brevity of this post, but Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - Group Kihon, group Pad Drills and group Kata. Had to run my daughter home between the 2 class, so skipped my stretching, but dud squeeze 5 rounds of Semi-contact Sparring, with 1 of the brown belts, just before the 2nd session began. Adult Karate @ 90 minutes - 30 minutes of Pad Drills, firstly dealing with Multiples, then in various station Pad Gauntlet. 60 minutes of Teaching, running a former Black belt from another club/style through Gekisai Di Ichi and introducing him to Gekisai Di Ni, as well as to the concept of Bunkai (HR strap and watch not worn) Travess
Friday (16/02/18) - Rest Day I'd started to feel that the affects of 5 straight days of training (for on average more than an hour each day) were really begining to catch up with me, both physically and mentally, so figured a day or two of rest would do me good! Typically though, I wake up today to find my motivation in complete conflict with my depleted energy levels, which made not training harder work than actually training... I did end up doing 56 Bench Press' though, 3 x 9 lifting my eldest daughter (who weighs 24kg) 3 x 9 lifting my youngest (who weighs 13.5kg) and 1 extra for luck of each. Saturday (17/02/18) - Rest Day No 2 - Second week on the trot that I've kept both Fri and Sat as non-training days (despite the kids class this morning) but tonight is to be my 1st night back on shift, following 10 nights off, and I need to get my sleeping pattern back in order. Sunday (18/02/18) Okay, so sleep eluded me, not only yesterday, but also today, so my big Bag-Work/Road Run session was cancelled with extreme prejudice!!! I did however force an EMOM (mostly) Bodyweight session out of myself, rotating thru 4 exercises - 10 x Bicep Curls* / 12 x Push Ups** / 14 x Squats and 16 x Crunches - with each minute, which I continued for 40 sets. (Notes: *2 x small 6kg KB used, as my tendonitis was playing up / ** Both inclined and regular push ups) Duration: 39m 18s Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 120 bpm Average HR: 103 bpm Calories: 231 used Total training hours: 6 hours 44 minutes 26 seconds, over 5 days Travess
Monday (19/02/18) I had the best days sleep I've had in over a week today! (Even if I was lead on top of my bed covers, still wearing my work clothes - 8 hours is 8 hours...) Got to the hall early again tonight, so that I could run my two 1st kyu students thru their 'trials' - Both have got a lot of work to do still, but both managed their 1st ever 2 minute plank today (which I am very happy about) earning them a 2-3 week break from that particular exercise. Karate @ 90 (ish) minutes To get our hearts pumping, we spent the 1st 20 minutes of tonight's session running thru a few Kihon Drills (must have worked too, because this is where I hit my max HR) We then spent a further 20 minutes running thru each Kata twice over (50% effort, then full speed and power) Well, that's what most of the class did, but as I was positioned between 2 young white belts, I got to work on Gekisai Di Ichi along side them for 20 minutes. The remainder of the session was then spent on Bunkai, specifically some of Iain Abernethy's 'rules of Bunkai' (from his book 'Bunkai-jutsu') and applying them to the principles of the Kata/piece of bunkai that we were looking at - My group introduced a few Pad Drills too, to help emphasis the 'smash and destroy' elements. Duration: 1h 38m 20s Starting HR: 79 bpm Max HR: 173 bpm Average HR: 120 bpm Calories: 404 used Tuesday (20/02/18) Headed out for an Interval Road/Trail Run this morning, running at a 'regular' pace for 1m 30s, then flat out for 30s (and repeat...) Duration: 41m 48s Distance: 5 miles/8.05km Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 173 bpm Average HR: 164 bpm Recovery HR: 44 bpm (from 167 down to 123) Calories: 494 used Note: Whilst I have spread the above over 2 separate days, as a nightshift worker, these for me are technically all on the same day. (Karate before work and the Road run straight after work if you will - It's amazing the difference a good 'nights' sleep can make..) Travess
Wednesday (21/02/18) I struggled this morning, as my Wife was on the early shift, and I had to stay awake to get the girls ready and off to school. But, as much as my bed was calling to me, I knew that if I didn't get my Bodyweight Session in before heading on up, then I probably never would. I decided to do a Pyramid Workout today, , doing Super Sets of 80 reps of each exercise. Warm-up: 29 minute Walk (School drop-off) 10 minutes of Stretching Pyramid: (5 - 6 - ... - 10 - ... - 6 - 5) Push Ups Mason Twists Bicep Curls (TRX) Squats Tricep Dips Calf Lifts Cool down: Sanchin Kata Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 17m 54s Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 118 bpm Average HR: 89 bpm Calories: 193 used Travess
Thursday (22/02/18) AM: As it was nice out this morning, we (my youngest and I) extended to the School drop-off, into a pleasant 45-50 minute Walk. Once home, I then cracked on with 15-20 minutes of both Static and Dynamic Stretching, including some remedial Kicking practice. PM: Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - We started the session with a 10 minute cardio based Warm-up, which was interspersed with a few Stretching stations thrown in for good measure. Next up, we looked at a number of Pad Drills, focusing on Single Power Strikes, as well as a few 2 and 4 Strike Combinations. For the final 30 minutes, we ran thru a mixture of Kihon and Kata, which am emphasis of function over form for the latter. Between the 2 sessions, I took the opportunity to run my two 1st Kyu students thru this months Bleep Test, to see if they'd made any progress - Which they both had, one way more than the other though. (I ran along side them too, until the last one piled in) Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei had us hit the ground running tonight (so to speak) with a few 4 or 5 station Gauntlets, with the pad holder at each station free to choose the attack (the goal being intent/aggression) We then paired off to continue the theme, this time with the pad holder keeping the pads at their sides, and when Sensei called out a number, (anything between 2 and 30) the pads would come up, and that would be our continues strikes count, with maximum effort and with every shot a 'knock out' We then put the pads away, and moved on to some Kata, sticking with Gekisai Di Ichi, working all out at 100%, again, looking at function over form - At the end, Sensei stated that we go again, as that seemed more like 20% After the 2nd go around, he said we did better, but it still only felt like we were giving 75% so we needed to work harder - 3rd time was the charm it would seem (Note: I didn't focus on how others were doing, but I know that I gave it my all each and every time, and that I could feel my heartbeat in my ears by the end of it...) It was Teaching for me from then out, working with a group (9) of Junior grade students on a single piece of Bunkai, which they did in pairs (and a 3) first with a compliant partner, then gradually with a less compliant partner, until they were Pressure testing to failure, and then figuring out to adapt/use the failure. We were meant to finish up with some Kata Based Sparring, utilizing the Bunkai and Strategies covered in our groups, but we ran out of time. Duration: 3h 07m 34s Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 177 bpm Average HR: 112 bpm Calories: 760 used Travess
Friday (23/02/18) Technically I should have kept today as a rest day, but having not trained/exercised for the past 2 Fridays, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I kept it very low key though, with some EHOH exercises, throughout the day. 09:00 - Dog Walk (though technically I was home by 9) 10:00 thru 15:00 - 4 minutes of Stretching / 10 x Push Ups / 10 x Mason Twists / 10 x Squats or Lunges / 3 x Chin Ups* (Note: *I keep revisting this exercise, but never really make any progress, as a give up on it way to soon, for not making any progress - It's a bit of a vicious circle really... ::Head Bang:: ) Travess
Saturday (24/02/18) - Rest Day - Plenty of running around with the kids at our juniors (4-12 year old) session this morning, but not much beyond that! (I even ended up having a nice little sofa based siesta...) Sunday (25/03/18) - Rest Day No. 2 - I had planned a nice intro to a few days of increasing rounds on the Heavy-Bag today, but just as I was about to head out, I remembered that I had beer in the fridge, and UFC on the TiVo... ::Shrug:: Total Workout Hours: 8 hours 42 minutes 40 seconds, over 5 days Monday (26/02/18) Karate @ 90 minutes (plus a little extra) Got to the hall early for the Push Up / Lunges / Plank / Sit up tests of my two 1st Kyu students, plus a little of my own Stretching. The warm-up tonight consisted of running thru Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seyunchin at 50%, 75% and then finally at 100% The rest of the session was spent on various Flinch Responses / Natural reactions drills. (touching briefly on how modern Karate 'block' have degenerated in to traditional karateka on traditional karateka type drills, contrary to how they were intended.) Drill 1: (in 4's) One in the middle, your partners throwing Attacks to your Head, using hand and thai, which you just had to prevent from landing (defense only) Drill 1b: (again in 4's) As above, but this time with (controlled) Counter Strikes. Drill 2: Still in our 4's, we did away with pads, Gloved (and Gumsheilded) up, this time with only 2 Attacking, as one defended, with the 4th person swapping in after 2 minutes. Drill 2b: As with 1b, we repeated the above drill, but this time added Counter Strikes. This was the final drill change, but we ran it several times over, upping the impact and the speed of the Attacks/Counters as we progressed. (Note: The hardest part of each drill for me, was during the 'defense only' drills - Not counterstriking feels so alien!!!!) Duration: 2h 01m 19s Starting HR: 73 bpm Max HR: 163 bpm Average HR: 134 bpm Calories: 613 used Feels like a picked up a little shoulder injury tonight (though god knows how!) so this weeks planned upper body strength sessions and Bag workouts, will now be replaced with Legs and Core training, Cardio Drills and Road Running. Travess
Tuesday (27/02/18) I woke up today feeling like a total 'weak body', not just with my shoulder still giving me cause for concern, but also with the new arrival of a scratchy throat and the makings of a cough... (both if which most of my family had been afflicted with a couple of weeks back, which I'd thought I'd managed to avoid) So, with heavy cardio out, and anything involving the arms out, I settled on a Core/Legs 'Deck of Cards' Workout. Warm-up: 15 minutes of Stretching Deck of Cards: Spades - Squats Diamonds - Mason Twists Clubs - Calf Lifts Hearts - Leg Raises Cool Down: Sanchin Kata Tensho Kata The whole affair took just over 35 minutes, but I did not wear my HR monitor. Gonna attempt a very low energy cardio 'deck of cards' set tomorrow, but that may be subject to change. Travess
I find looking at the date on my birth certificate offers a valid reason for why things ache so much these days... Travess
